Interviews – Music Aloudhttps://www.musicaloud.com
If music be the food for life, we serve mini meals!Fri, 29 May 2020 19:48:18 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.14https://www.musicaloud.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/cropped-ma-logo-bigger-32x32.jpgInterviews – Music Aloudhttps://www.musicaloud.com
323264877190In Conversation with A R Rahmanhttps://www.musicaloud.com/2017/07/07/in-conversation-with-a-r-rahman/
https://www.musicaloud.com/2017/07/07/in-conversation-with-a-r-rahman/#respondFri, 07 Jul 2017 10:13:43 +0000http://www.musicaloud.com/?p=11267As I walk in to the Sky Lounge at Hilton Wembley on Thursday, I get to know that I missed a live keyboard rendition of Nahin Saamne by A R Rahman (for Jon Snow from Channel 4) just by minutes. Amidst all the nervousness and excitement of finally getting to meet the legend, there is also the annoyance of having missed that performance and the hope that there might be another live rendition for another channel. That was not to be, sadly, but after a bit of a wait, I do get myself what will possibly be the fifteen most memorable minutes of my life. Despite all the interviews the man has had to go through during the day, the man is surprisingly buoyant and chatty; his passion for all things music still strong as ever. Excerpts from our chat where we discussed his latest and upcoming projects, 25 years in film music, KMMC and more:

Let’s start with your latest release, Mom. The soundtrack has a few really experimental tracks. How did the idea for those come about?

Basically, when I met Ravi (Udyawar)..you know..he is young, and has done a lot of ads..I’ve done one of his ads, the Airtel one which won a lot of awards (not the original one with the famous jingle, the one that came later, he clarifies). So he has his sensibilities, and when he came to me, I could see the expectations regarding the movie, I knew that it was not going to be a song-based movie, but a more soundtrack-based one. They had just one song literally – O Sona – the others were all like background pieces. So then I had a lot of freedom; I presented to him Maufi Mushkil and he was like “I love this”, of course the producer on the other hand went “what is this stuff!”.. It made it nevertheless..Maufi Mushkil was one of the first ideas I played to Ravi. Then when I saw the movie, I felt there could be something very intriguing about this. That’s when I thought of Be Nazaara. Sudeep Jaipurwala is one of the famous music teachers in Mumbai, and I have in fact posted his grandfather’s rendition of the tappa three years back. So I said to him, “if you want a chance to sing, you learn this song” (laughs). He said “I have learnt it” and I was like “OK, let’s do it for this movie then”. I put in some sounds and it worked really well for some of the scenes. When I played it to Ravi he loved it too, and was torn where to use it, I told him to fix a scene where it seemed particularly effective. As for Raakh Baaki, Irshad (Kamil) had written some poetry, he gave it to me saying “there is poem I love and I don’t know how to use it” and I had been toying with it. Jonita happened to drop by the studio around that time when she was in Mumbai, while we were working on something else. And while she was there it was a spontaneous thought that happened, to record the track. We instantly pulled up the song from the inbox, set up the mic in the recording room and recorded it right then! While we were recording suddenly I felt like..why don’t we add these screams, sort of like from within..kind of like an implosion.. if that implosion had a voice. And I added those voices myself, standing probably six feet away from the mic to give that effect, and then processed it. Listening to me, Jonita got inspired too and she was like “can I do this too?” and I went “yeah sure”. So we ended up pulling off this stuff which was sort of over the top, but then we just kept it on.. it was like a jam.

You are also working on your pet project now, 99 songs. How different has the experience been? Does it help that you have an increased say in the matters?

We have a very very talented director.. Vishwesh is very talented, he is a musician too. You know, for 4 years or 5 years we have been jamming.. The challenge for the movie is that the vision is so big, and the budget..you know we have a new star, a new director, a new writer.. we had to find a balance, and then we found this great producer Ideal Entertainment from Canada. They loved the vision and wanted to support it. So we are there, this year we will hopefully complete it.

So what kind of music is it going to be?

The idea is to release each track a month..there are going to be more than 11 tracks I think.. So we don’t get this “oh, I didn’t like it at the beginning, I liked it later” and all that..let’s get it all out of the system (laughs). In these days of so much clutter, people need time to absorb.

Congratulations on completing 25 years in the industry. How does it all feel?

I am just enjoying the process. I feel blessed that people are still listening to some songs and that I still have some energy left create more, and also find my own platform to create..like via movies, virtual reality and all that.

Would also be a good occasion to remember a person who was an integral part of your music until his untimely passing – H Sridhar. I remember him mentioning in an interview a few years back about how he used to be very critical of your work, pointing out what doesn’t sound good, et al. Do you miss that kind of a presence in your music creation process now?

It is incredible, really.. till Slumdog, our team was very very small, it was just probably 3-4 people: Sivakumar, me, Sridhar.. and now it has expanded because of KM, and the whole idea of giving back, and taking internship, people learning and them coming back to us.. we now have the company called Qutb-e-Kripa, consists of composers from KM.. so there are many composers out there now – Parag (Chhabra, who arranged two songs in Viceroy’s House/Partition 1947), Jerry (Vincent), Santhosh (N D)..all of them have evolved a lot. Before it used to be a lot of hand holding and baby sitting and all that, they have now come to a level where you can trust them. So I thought this company is very important because this way we are facilitating work for new talent rather than them having to go knock at doors for a break.. Because I reject so many movies..I probably accept 5% of what comes to me, this way I can do a bit more..I can focus on the main thing and they can help with the rest, they get mentioned when they are working as well. For instance they have done music for Daughters of Destiny, directed by Oscar winning documentary filmmaker Vanessa Roth..it’s a beautiful documentary, a four part series.. I have done the title track and they have done everything else.

So is that the plan going forward with KMMC? To channel promising talent via Qutb-e-Kripa?

As much as possible, yes. Of course some of them are going independent as well, which is great. But for those who don’t, that would be the plan.

What is the quickest that you have come up with a song?

O Sona. I don’t know if it is good or bad, but I had to do it. I composed it in like 6 minutes, it was written in four hours, sung in half hour or so and in 3 days we had the song ready!

And looking at the other extreme, what is the longest it has taken you to create a song?

Longest were these two songs from Mom again, Freakin’ Life and Kooke Kawn. We did those, and then when I heard them again I had to repair them, and so on.

You have worked with a lot of musical legends in your time. Is there someone you wanted to work with, but haven’t been able to?

Actually I wanted to work with this amazing Tamil poet called Abdul Rahman, and I had thought of some day sitting with him and doing a Tamil ghazal album or something. Sadly he passed away. Sometimes you just have to be quick! He was a phenomenal poet..his poetry was so inspiring. Of course, I can take some of the books do something, but even sitting with him and conversing was fantastic.

So a Tamil album along the lines of what you said is still a possibility then?

There are many other things..I think the compelling things right now are my Virtual Reality movie (Le Musk) which is getting finished..I want everything to be complete in its own way..sometimes your mind wants to do many things but you have to focus your energies..you are getting older (laughs).

How up to date are you with the contemporary Indian music scene?

Not that much, unfortunately. I wish I could hear many things..what happens is, when you do a soundtrack, like the soundtrack of Mom..it was supposed to be Hindi..then came a Tamil version, a Telugu version, a Malayalam version..so you literally have to listen to all these versions, all the mixes, all the deliveries of voices, find the lyrics..it is cruel to even listen to one more track! You can’t, you just have to shut off. It’s like eating..you want to taste like 100 different dishes but you can’t. So when I am not doing anything, I listen to the radio.

Anything that caught your attention among recent works then?

Nothing Indian unfortunately..I was listening to iTunes..Apple Music playlists. But I would love to, I know that there is a lot of interesting work is happening..lot of younger people are doing stuff.

Since you mentioned listening to Apple Music, what are your thoughts on the burgeoning of music streaming? How do you think it will impact the musicians in the long run?

I think things would have to be sympathetic towards musicians, because without musicians there is no music..things will settle down I think, I always believe that.

Shankar Ehsaan Loy did Mirzya last year, a folk/classical based musical work. The year before that, Amit Trivedi did the jazz-based Bombay Velvet. This year, Pritam is doing Jagga Jasoos, which is supposed to be a musical in an even truer sense. Do you ever feel like doing something similar in Bollywood?

No I am just so frustrated after this attempt in Hollywood.. I did a movie called Monkeys of Mumbai, worked one of the best lyricists in the world, Steven Schwartz..so I am actually relieved that I am not doing a musical! (laughs) Because five years of our life..you know..from 2011 to almost 2016 we were working, and in 2016 they pulled the plug. It was everybody’s envy, that project. They loved the project, and said “this is going to win everything”…and it didn’t happen unfortunately.. so then I decided that I had enough of that..I think that is one of the reasons I went to Virtual Reality, doing my own thing. I am happy, liberated.

So when such projects get shelved (happens all the time, ARR adds), do you end up reusing the tune elsewhere?

I can’t, because contractually we are not supposed to.

You are working on a new project with Rajiv Menon (Sarvam Thaala Mayam). But he was also going to do an M S Subbulakshmi biopic, one which you were rumoured to be involved in as well at one point. Is that still on?

No, so Rajiv Menon was supposed to direct 99 Songs. We had the initial discussions and all that, and then he showed me the MSS biopic project and I said this is what is more like you, and I don’t want to trap you with my project. And I started looking for a different director. Then Rajiv’s (MSS) project got blocked, and he came around to doing this one (STM). Rajiv is very talented and amazing, I keep telling him to keep working at it and not stop.

Finally, about the Wembley concert. You are coming back to Wembley after seven years. How has your experience been, at Wembley, and performing in London in general?

I love London, love the people..so far things have been good, hope this better!

I was at your O2 gig two years back where you showcased your greatest hits starting from Roja. How different is this one going to be?

Watch it and find out! (laughs)

A R Rahman’s “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” concert, a celebration of his completion of 25 years in film music, happens at the SSE Arena Wembley on the 8th of July. Details regarding the concert, tickets etc can be found here.

]]>https://www.musicaloud.com/2017/07/07/in-conversation-with-a-r-rahman/feed/011267In Conversation With Ehsaan Nooranihttps://www.musicaloud.com/2015/10/25/in-conversation-with-ehsaan-noorani/
https://www.musicaloud.com/2015/10/25/in-conversation-with-ehsaan-noorani/#respondSun, 25 Oct 2015 10:48:39 +0000http://www.musicaloud.com/?p=10115It was in 1997 that the composer trio Shankar Ehsaan Loy came together for the first time, for Mukul Anand’s film Dus. The movie was unfortunately never completed owing to the director’s untimely death, but the songs did come out, the song Suno Gaur Se in particular becoming quite popular. SEL then went on to greater things, winning a National Award among other numerous accolades. Our interviewee for the day though, is the ace guitarist among the trio, the man whose career in music began much before Dus, with a jingle for Paragon Shoes thirty years back. A man whom we have incidentally interviewed five years back as well! In our latest interview, Ehsaan talks about his jury experience at The Stage, SEL’s Marathi debut etc.

30 years in the music industry. How has the journey been? How have you seen the scene change, over such a long period? Be it indie, or film?

It’s been one of learning and growth musically and spiritually. The scene has changed a lot over the last few years especially as the internet became one of the strongest mediums for music. Indie musicians are finding it easier to put their music out there through youtube etc. Film music has grown too as the tastes of people change it naturally is more trendy now.

You are on the jury panel for The Stage. How has the experience so far been? And what do you think of the prospects regarding acceptance of the show as such in India, given that it is the first of its kind?

The experience has been amazing, we have such wonderful talent in this country. Am happy that at last there is a platform where singers who don’t sing in Hindi or any of the local languages are getting to show off their singing skills and get some recognition.

The general pattern with reality shows, what with a lot of them in town, has been for new talent to garner the spotlight when on such shows and not be able to leverage that success in their career beyond the show. Though The Stage is first of its kind in that it targets the English singing musicians, do you see a similar challenge arising here too?

The whole idea of Universal Music being involved with the show and Devraj Sanyal being a member of the jury is so that the winner of the show can have a career beyond the show.

You recently expressed your desire in mentoring young musicians and producing/writing songs for them. Are you going to do some of that on The Stage? Or are there other plans too? To refer back to the interview we had five years back, you had mentioned “SEL Sounds” with similar intentions. Is that still in the offing?

Well SEL songs does exist it’s just that we have been too busy with our Bollywood music etc but the plan is definitely there and when the time is right and we have the correct artists we will song write for them.

You headed one episode on Coke Studio at MTV a couple of years back. Are there any plans of returning to the show? And how would you compare the Indian version with the Pakistan one?

Well we did one episode and am not sure when or if we will do another one. It has been a successful show because it blends different forms of music which appeals to the listeners. Both the Indian and Pakistani shows each have something unique to offer as both countries have immense singing and musical talent.

Coming to the movie scene, SEL recently did a debut in Marathi, and a classical-oriented one, going by the promos and songs so far. How was that experience, given you have not done a soundtrack that is purely classical and period before this?

Well it has been a good experience doing the music for Katiyaar (Kaljat Ghusali). Shankar is a maestro in classical music and composing the music has been a learning experience for us. Marathi film and theatre still draws upon the Indian classical tradition and its sad that the Hindi film industry has almost left that behind.

You have done a lot of guitar work as part of SEL. Have you ever played for other composers? Or have you ever felt after hearing a song that you wish you had played for that?

Well I have played for Vishal Shekhar and Gulraj Singh on occasion and will do a session if asked to do one. I haven’t felt that so far that I would want to play guitar on a particular song. There is enough guitar in our songs

You had mentioned your bands Faces in the Dark and Fuzzy Duck in our last interview. Are you still active with those? Have you dabbled with any other indie stuff yourself recently?

Well I have been playing with a few projects like The Fender Benders and Fender and Friends featuring the endorsees of Fender guitars. I am also playing a few concerts with Parikrama. Faces and Fuzzy Duck are on the back burner for now.

What are your other projects we should watch out for in the immediate future?

A string quartet playing Carnatic music, with Western harmonies. Madras String Quartet’s is a brand of classical fusion that remains fairly unique even in this day and age when fusion bands are in abundance. Despite their uniqueness though, the quartet took quite a while to get noticed. It was not until a series of their performances got uploaded on Youtube in 2007 perhaps that that happened (at least I did not know of the group until I saw one of those videos in 2008, that of Thyagaraja’s Mokshamu, one that still counts among my favourite pieces by them). After seven years of following their music, I finally got to see the quartet live last Friday at London South Bank Centre, at an event conducted by Dhruv Arts. What’s more, I also got to interact with the group members and interview the main man, legendary violinist-composer V S Narasimhan. Key excerpts from the conversation:

Let’s start with an account of your journey so far.

We formed the quartet in 1993. Started off by playing Western classical – Mozart, Haydn etc. We were earlier playing together in Madras Chamber Orchestra which I used to lead at that point so this was just something we formed post the breakup of the orchestra. Subsequently, based on my experience of working with various composers and my own knowledge in Western classical music, I started doing small arrangements for Carnatic music. I started off with this composition Raaravenu, putting harmonies and rhythm around it; it sounded nice and quite unique at that time. I was thrilled, and thought why not continue on this line. I wrote some arrangements for string quartet (at times with help from Finale Software). In 2000 we had the opportunity to record live, and that led to our first album called Resonance. The album received a lot of appreciation from people like Maxim Vengerov, Yo-Yo Ma, Zakir Hussain (VSN laughs while recollecting how Zakir Hussain joked to him, “oh you don’t need percussion at all, what are we going to do now?!”). After that the other musicians of the quartet got busy (V R Sekar, Hemanthraj Muliyil, BJ Chandran are all quite active in movies as well), so for our second album Raga Saga I recorded the first three parts myself – first and second violin, and viola – and Sekar recorded the cello. Our latest album Raga Fantasy was aimed at bringing out the importance of lyrics in Carnatic music, and therefore had three voice tracks featuring Bombay Jayasree and Sriram Parthasarathy.

You were majorly involved in Ilayaraja’s 1986 fusion album How to Name It. How much did your work there influence the formation of Madras String Quartet?

Raja’s idea was different. He wanted to write a counterpoint to Western pieces like Bach Sonata with Indian classical elements. He was essentially looking to Indianise the Western compositions. I approached it from the other end, picking up Carnatic pieces and adding harmonies to them, even playing them like percussion. When you use an actual percussion instrument, the syncopations are all tuned to one pitch. But when we approach it this way, the harmony elements afford more flexibility in the pitch aspect of the rhythmic elements.

Does any of your music come out of jamming, or is it always prepared beforehand, given the format?

Among the musicians in the group, Sekar is fairly familiar with Carnatic music given his background (Sekar is the son of Carnatic violin maestro Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan), but the others are predominantly Western musicians and not much jamming happens between us. I basically conceive the idea in my head and write down the parts with the help of a keyboard. After writing the complete score I take it to the other musicians and make changes if required.

So there is not much improvisation that happens, outside of what is written?

Talking of improvisations, I have written additional swara kalpanaportionsfor some of my recent compositions. Now I am looking to have more live improvisations, where each of us gets a solo part like in Carnatic music. I believe we are the only quartet in existence that plays Carnatic – Sekar plays occasional alaaps on stage, and I am looking to extend that to the others. I don’t consider myself a big Carnatic musician, but whatever I have learnt from my father keeps me going. And I want to encourage my partners too; in their regular line of work in movies, they just play what they are given by the composers and don’t get to explore on their own. I want to give them the opportunity to do that while performing in the quartet.

Are you working on any album right now?

Nothing at the moment. The last one was Raga Fantasy in 2013, and then two members dropped out, and in their place we now have Mohan Rao (second violin) and Sasikumar (viola).

How do you think the whole scene has changed from the time you started off, in terms of how people perceive your music? There would have been purists criticising your style at least in the beginning?

We have never really received that kind of criticism, most of our experiences have been of people telling us that they never realised Carnatic compositions could be interpreted this way too. There was one critic I remember though, who said that we should not be picking up keerthanas like this, we should just be creating our own stuff. I just ignored that. What I play, if you take out the harmonic elements, is true to the original Carnatic style. The other elements just enhance it.

How much do you work on your interactions with the general public, outside of your concerts? You obviously are not very active on digital media.

We have done workshops with youngsters, explaining what we do, how to produce harmonies and so on. They mostly happen in Chennai, but we also made two visits to Bangalore, at Azim Premji University. We wish and hope to do more of those in future.

You played on Music Mojo on Kappa TV last year. How was the experience? What do you think of such shows?

It was a really good experience working with Sumesh Lal. I have been following other bands on the show too, they have been doing some really good work.

You used to compose in movies until a while back. Any plans to return?

In the last 10 years or so I have not done anything in films, I have been purely focused in this. No plans to go back to movies either.

You have toured the UK once before. How has the experience of performing here been?

Yes, last time we did a three city tour – Bristol, Leeds and London. At Bristol we had a fantastic experience – 90% of the audience were whites, and we probably have never received an appreciation like we did at that venue. They weren’t in a mood to let us go at all!

Are you covering any other places in this trip?

After this gig we travel to Brussels, followed by Italy. Then we return to UK for a gig in Liverpool (Milapfest’s Indika, on 31st of July) – all organised by the ICCR.

Eminent singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan returns to the UK for his ‘Back 2 Love Tour’ 2014. The tour commences with a sensational live concert at The SSE Arena, Wembley in London on Sunday 24th August 2014, over the Bank Holiday weekend. The tickets are available here.

Ashanti Omkar did an interview of the veteran, about his new album and the upcoming tour. Read it below!

Performing live is synonymous with your name – how does it feel to be interacting with your fans in this way?In fact it is the only aspect of singing I know. Belonging to a family with a legacy of 600 years of music heritage, this is the basic that we are taught, which is to sing live.

You’ve performed at Wembley before – tell us about this forthcoming show and what it holds for the adoring audiences. Are you excited about performing in Wembley?I have travelled the world and I can openly say that SSE Arena Wembley, remains to be my most liked venue. I have great memories of the concert in 2012 and I am sure it will be even better this year.

UK fans love your voice a lot – is that something special that you will be giving them on this tour?I love my UK fans too! Yes, they are in for a real treat as i have segmented my upcoming Wembley arena concert with TCO & PME to showcase the “Back 2 Love” album first time. In fact it can be labelled as the world premiere of the album live. Apart my normal Bollywood songs, I also have made a medley of my super hit Bollywood songs, along with the ever green and very popular segment of qawwalis. This upcoming tour will be sheer musical magic!

Wembley and London are two places that are privileged to have you re-visiting. Tell us about how you feel about performing at the legendary arena? Especially as you’ve collaborated in the past, with others who’ve performed the venue, like Pearl Jam.On the contrary I would say that I am honoured to be loved by the Londoners and coming back to Wembley is something I wanted even last year, but my promoters TCO group wanted to try O2 and it was an amazing concert as well.

Share with us some details of your band members and how you all work together.I consider them to be my family, and a lot of them including my younger brother Wajahat Ali, cousin Farhat Ali and others who have even performed with my uncle and guru, Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan are still there in the group.

Tell us about some of the highlights of this tour, in terms of music – what songs do you feel will resonate with UK audiences the most and will there be some surprises in store? What is “Back 2 Love” tour all about?“Back 2 Love” is all about spreading love through and with my music. It is testing times for a lot of fellow brothers & sisters and all I want people to do is love each other and get rid of hatred. Life is too beautiful to waste. There are many surprises and best if unveiled on the day; I do not want to take away the “surprise” element!

Bollywood and Lollywood have played a big part in your voice reaching the masses, out of the Classical (Qawwali & Ghazal) music realm – tell us about this journey and about any new songs you’ve done for films.Yes they have been instrumental for my career, especially in the last decade. I have recently done a song with Mahesh Bhat sahab for one of his upcoming films, one with Sajid-Wajid for a film by Arbaaz Ali Bhai, a duet with Kailash Kher and another half a dozen songs are in the pipeline.
Tell us a little about Back 2 Love and how it came about, and the themes that run through it.It all happened last year in New York when we thought about it and then dedicated about 9 months to it and it is amazing to see the way it has been loved. In fact one of the songs, “Zaroori Tha” has just had over 12 million views on Youtube Vevo and labelled as the biggest love song of 2014, so I am overwhelmed by the response. I am lucky to have a very good team with me.

Qawwali and Sufi music is very enchanting – you have kept the legacy of this music alive, to the enchantment of fans. How do you see this form of music evolving and continuing to appeal, as you are a pioneer of taking this abroad, as did your eminent uncle. Please share a key memory of your extensive touring with him. Will we see your son also following suit?There are far too many memories to share, but one of them I can never forget, I was the only one who had to wake up at 5 AM-ish (irrespective of when I went to sleep) to do “rihaaz” (music practice). At that time I found it to be unfair that this rule was only imposed on me, but today I look up to the sky and thank my Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for putting me through such vigorous training which in fact helps me even today.

My son is showing a lot of promise and interest. The rest is up to him & his destiny, but yes for sure it will be a very proud moment if I was able to see my son continue the family legacy.

You’ve been singing since the age of 3 and have inspired millions with your voice and vocal capabilities – what advice would you give youngsters, who wish to keep this tradition of singing alive, in terms of learning?Only one thing, “hard work”, be it practice, concerts or playback, belief and hard work is the formula. I know nothing else in life but just to sing. Something I love!

]]>https://www.musicaloud.com/2014/08/19/in-conversation-with-rahat-fateh-ali-khan/feed/09023Live Banned – An Indo International Masshttps://www.musicaloud.com/2014/08/12/live-banned-an-indo-international-mass/
https://www.musicaloud.com/2014/08/12/live-banned-an-indo-international-mass/#commentsTue, 12 Aug 2014 18:12:47 +0000http://www.musicaloud.com/?p=8990A candid conversation with Bangalore based satire band, Live Banned, mostly around their new album If You Park Here Your Tyre Will Be Air Out (which you can buy on OKListen).

Live Banned is an entertainment unit that has been “putting it” since 2011. With Amrit Rao on the vocals, Sridhar Varadarajan on the guitar, Siddhart Kamath on the keyboard, Dheerendra Doss on the drums and Raveesh Tirkey playing bass, this deadly quintet is making waves with their unique brand of music.

Let’s talk about the album.

Dheerendra: What do you want to know about the album?

Everything?

Sridhar: Ordo you not know anything about the album?

Amrit: Everything she knows

(mild laughter)

Okay, what inspired the creation of this album?

Amrit: We had no plans of doing an album. We’ve always considered ourselves as a “live only” act. Live Banned is an “audio visual” band. People enjoy us more only when a visual aspect is there.

(Amrit gets distracted)

Siddhart: So we had no plans of doing an album, but we thought of a video compilation, in place of a standard audio CD and then we realized it just takes way too much time. A lot of people kept asking us “Where are your songs, we don’t get to hear them”

Dheerendra: So out of “popular demand”, it became a standard album.

What is the concept behind the album?

Sridhar: The concept was…. there was no concept. The title is as random as we get, and well that is the concept…

Siddhart: Looking at the songs, we already had them made; so just had to think of something very quirky when we were putting all of this together.

There seems to be an underlying social theme to all the songs on the album. .. Was this meant to happen?

Amrit(who is no longer distracted) : Initially we had no plans of doing originals – we just wanted to do mashups and have fun on stage and entertain people, but then, the Auto Tune happened and we started doing originals slowly. When Auto Tune went viral, we decided to do songs on social issues. No one was doing that. There were protest bands, but no one really did satire, so we wanted to take that route and bring out social issues in a more fun way; through satire. That’s why we started writing songs based on issues that have affected us.

Dheerendhra: Basically anything people can relate to immediately.

Amrit: We didn’t want to just write about love and the girl next door, you know.

Dheerendra: Unless the girl next door starts becoming an issue that is.

Amrit: Social issue.

( the band begins to laugh because they know the girl next door is already an issue)

Dheerendra: (stressing) Yes, social issue.

The issues covered in your songs are very specific to Indian lifestyle.. do you worry that this limits the reach of your songs or are you trying to create a cultural awareness?

Amrit: I think we are a very India-centric band. Especially south India. I don’t’ think we’re worried about reaching out to people outside India

Sridhar: We don’t think of it as an issue actually, because if an American band can sing about their cars and local stuff and we sitting here can get it, why won’t it work the other way. It’s our identity.

(Raveesh nods silently)

Do you feel like your music can reach out to a global audience? You are already famous at a national level. Is there a strategy to go global?

Amrit: I think the first step would be to tackle markets like Singapore , Malaysia or Dubai; basically wherever the mallus are – which is basically everywhere. (everyone laughs) Wherever the south Indians are..

Siddhart: ..Or generally Indians , for that matter

Amrit: Absolutely, yeah. More south Indians because they relate to our music, but having said that, even places like Bombay, people are open to our music, and have shown us a lot of love. I think basic strategy is, where IT is popular and mallus are there, go to those countries!

Do you have a music strategy? Like singing on more global social issues that people from anywhere can relate to?

Dheerendra: Unless they’re really called for, and if they have an Indian implication, maybe then.

(boys all nod in agreement)

Sridhar: It’s about the roots. This is our thing.

(Raveesh nods silently again)

Ok, off the top off your minds… favourite song in the album

Sridhar: Roads, Bloody Roads.

Siddhart: Rooooads

(Amrit is thinking)

Raveesh: Roads

Dheerendra: Roads.

Amrit: Art is dead. Artist is dead

Dheerendra: He‘s just trying to be different. He also likes Roads.

(Amrit laughs)

How do you define the genre Live Banned plays?

Amrit: I think parody and comedy are words that have been used to describe us due to lack of better words.

Dheerendhra: We are Indo International Mass.

Sridhar: Due to lack of a better description we just came up with our description, it’s called Indo International mass.

Amrit : First genre we thought of was “Awesome”..

Sridhar: Yeah, awesome wasn’t awesome at all

Amrit: And then we thought we’re pushing it too much, maybe too much attitude

Siddhart: So we thought let’s give it a technical term. So Indo International Mass. But when you say “mass” people outside of Tamil Nadu won’t get it

When you started Live Banned, did you intend on being how you are now, or is it something that you have winged over the years to figure out?

Amrit: See, the intention was to have fun on stage. Just to entertain people and ourselves. We were all part of other bands, and we had a lot of fun. We just wanted to do something different, because everyone was doing the same old rock and roll. As much as we like all that, we wanted to focus on south Indian music and languages and Bollywood

Dheerendhra: Or Indian music, dance…like Bhangra

Amrit: The idea was to entertain people

Dheerendra: and have a blast and see the audience laugh

Amrit: We found people to be very serious and headbanging at gigs and being very intense.

Dheerendra: And then people saying, “Oh his riff was so great”, but here people don’t come and say that, irrespective of whether the riff was great or not. People just see us having fun

Amrit: One thing we’ve managed to do is connect people who listen to different genres of music. People who don’t listen to rock or metal, think we’re actually covering all these cheesy songs. People who do listen to rock and metal know that we are parodying these songs, so they have more fun. So it’s a balance.

Great. Part of being Live Banned is living a double life with a completely different avatar on stage and off. How did this happen?

Amrit: Nothing was planned

Dheerendra: It just happened. We didn’t know that this is how we will be, until it happened on our first show. Pre gig, we just decided “Okay, let’s wear these wigs and some mismatched clothes”

For a musician to complete 25 years of successful existence is no mean feat. Particularly so in India, and even more so in the Indie field. Indian Ocean entered that hallowed territory last month, and are celebrating their 25th year with a new album called Tandanu, an album where they have seven songs created in collaboration with seven other musicians (Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Shubha Mudgal, Shankar Mahadevan, Karsh Kale, Vishal Dadlani, Selvaganesh Vinayakram, Kumaresh Rajagopalan of Ganesh Kumaresh). Sure, the band isn’t the same in composition now as it started off, composition-wise, but they have maintained an identity all through this journey so far which a lot of us would connect with. We decided to catch up with the one surviving member from the original lineup, the great Rahul Ram to talk about Tandanu and about Indian Ocean in general. And here is the conversation:

Like your first song Gar Ho Sake, have all songs from Tandanu had a lot of contribution from the featured artists? I notice that the other six collaborators too are composers in their own rights.

Everybody whom we have collaborated with are fantastic musicians and have contributed immensely to the compositions. Like in Gar Ho Sake, where Shubha Mudgal composed the tune of one entire antara, the other songs also have the collaborators pitching in.

The upcoming videos will tell you exactly the process through which each song was made.

Tandanu the song has undergone multiple iterations. I remember seeing a 2012 youtube upload of that song featuring just you. Then at Coorg you guys collaborated with Shankar Mahadevan. And now that lineup is minus Susmit. So has the song undergone further changes from last year?

Not really. The song is essentially the same from what we played at Coorg. However, with Nikhil Rao coming in the guitar solo has changed completely and we overall have sharpened it a little.

Tandanu the song was conceived at least as early as 2012. And the official premiere of the album happened only last week. Was there some delay in between, or did the ideation as such take long?

Tandanu, the song has been with us for a long time. We got down to work on the album and putting it together from November last year.

You have chosen artists from varied backgrounds for your collaborations. There is Carnatic, Hindustani, film, rock, electronica. Why these artists specifically?

When we thought about this album, we got down to choosing artists whose work we liked. Then our choices became about vocalists, instrumentalists and percussionists – because we wanted a balance. The Hindustani-ness or the Carnatic-ness wasn’t really something we had in mind – it just happened along the way, and we are very glad that it happened.

Going by Vishal’s tweet, Roday has Hindi, Kashmiri and Sindhi. Tandanu has some Kannada in it. Has the plan been to cover all of India with your seven songs? J And do they all have some sort of a central theme to it?

No, not at all. We don’t think like that – the languages are something that happened along the way, and there was no plan in place as such to include as many languages as we can.

We don’t do albums with central themes – except for maybe Black Friday which was a movie. Every song I believe has a unique and different character – for example, while Behney Do (with Karsh Kale) is a sort of youth anthem, Roday (with Vishal Dadlani) talks about displacement of people, Tandanu (with Shankar Mahadevan) is an old Kannada folk song from the Belur-Halebidu region! Hence, each song is different.

You entered your 25th year of existence in April! A comparison between how things were when you started out, and now?

It has been a fantastic journey for sure. When we started out we hardly had any concerts, any recognition and today to reach a stage when we are in our 25th year, is really great.

The Indie music scene has indeed changed dramatically over the last 25 years. Back then it was largely limited to people playing cover versions of Western songs, but slowly and steadily that has changed. There are a lot more festivals as well these days that support Indie music. With internet, publishing and taking your music out has also become a lot easier.

Much has changed for Indian Ocean in recent years. First Asheem, then Susmit. Increased incidence of film projects, particularly for you. How has all this affected the sound of Indian Ocean, if at all? And how do you see this changing things for Indian Ocean going forward?

The only full film project we did was 9 years ago, which was Black Friday. In the meantime, we have only done 1 or 2 songs for a few films.

After Asheem passed away and Susmit left, new people have come in. So the sound of the band was bound to change, but keeping the character of Indian Ocean the same. We were also curious what shape the band would take – but I must say that we are quite happy with the new shape! And I feel this will change further because right now this album has 7 collaborators who’s contribution is felt. The true picture I feel will emerge in the next album – if we do the next album with just the 5 of us.

Some of the other artists in the current scene that you find promising?

Agam, Swarathma and Avial. I also quite like the stage presence of Anthony Daasan.

The album Tandanu is being launched on a song-by-song basis every Saturday, with a behind the scenes video that premieres on Pepsi MTV Indiesevery Saturday at 8 pm IST, and the song made available on iTunes India. The complete album will be available for digital download after the sixth Saturday from today; tonight it is going to be Behney Dofeaturing Karsh Kale.

On February 24, Dualism Records founded by Dualist Inquiry aka Sahej Bakshi along with his manager Tej Brar, released the brand new compilation album Subterra. A compilation of eight tracks by eight of some of the most exciting artistes to have emerged on the indie electronic scene in the last couple of years, the album features artistes like Sandunes, Madboy/Mink, Frame/Frame, Your Chin, Dualist Inquiry himself and more. It’s a kicker of an album that lets you in on the best of Indian electronic music that’s sitting somewhere comfortably between traditional techno dance music and a more organic, fresh and experimental space. Here are some excerpts of an interview done with Sahej Bakshi himself where he talks about his curating stint, the challenges of being a record label owner, the ‘scene’ and more.

Don’t forget to give the album a listen here when you’re done reading (or while you are reading). It’s free too.

This is your first compilation album. What has been the most difficult part about being a curator?

The curation (i.e. the selection) of the music for the album was the easy part – there’s so much great music out there. If anything, the challenge is to make sure that the compilation achieves it’s purpose – to help music lovers discover new music and to help these artists reach out to a wider audience more quickly. Tej Brar (who also manages Dualist Inquiry) runs the label with me, and we’re in the process of getting the music out there right now. I’m glad to say that so far, it’s been going very well.

If you had to peg a sort of mood or feeling to Subterra, what would it be?

It goes from moody and contemplative in the first few songs to lighthearted and groovy in the middle, and it finishes off with a few funky and playful dance tracks.

How did you go about selecting these specific bands and tracks?

The one thing all the artists on this compilation have in common is that they don’t belong neatly within one genre – each of them has created a sound that is uniquely theirs. Musically, I tend to favour traveling the roads in between the ones most travelled, and all of these artists are doing just that.

You’ve released the album for free – again! How does it work when it comes to the economics of managing a record label?

From the start, Dualism Records as an idea has never really been a commercial venture. I’m fortunate enough to be able to make my living as Dualist Inquiry, and the aim with Dualism Records is to help Indian fans discover their next favourite artist, and for the artists to be able to reach a wider audience more quickly.

How do you manage to flit between being an artiste and a record label owner? Is it a struggle, are there any challenges?

Running a label is a completely different ball game from being an artist, and we’re learning a lot as we go along. I wouldn’t call it a struggle, it’s actually more of a personally-driven project that I’m extremely happy to work on. We definitely do face some challenges, though, and they’re mostly to do with taking responsibility for another artist’s music and making sure it gets its due. While I might have been somewhat cavalier and willing to take risks with my own album Doppelganger, we take releasing another artist’s music very seriously and would never want to leave anything to chance.

You’ve collaborated with Harikrishna Panicker for artwork on your debut album as well. Tell us a little about the association and how the two of you met.

Working with Harikrishna has been by far one of my favourite collaborations to date. I was introduced to his work as I was looking for an artist for my album Doppelganger. I saw his work and was completely bowled over by it. When I got in touch with him, we discovered that we’re both fascinated by similar themes and juxtapositions, and that there was definitely a strong creative synergy. All said and done, Hari’s as talented as he is humble and professional, and it’s a pleasure to work with him.

Will Dualism Records step out of electronic music and release music by bands from other genres as well? Would it be comfortable, for example, to release an all out classic rock album?

One of the things that I would like Dualism Records to be defined by is that we love music that does not belong neatly into one genre. So no, we would probably not release an “all out classic rock” album, because that fits too neatly into one category to make an impact in today’s musical environment. Today’s artists must find their niche, their unique ‘sound’ to claim their identity in the broader scheme of things. We look forward to not knowing what our next release is going to sound like.

You’ve from the beginning pushed the envelope when it came to your own music . How do you see your sound evolving over the next couple of years? Are there collaborations happening soon?

Over the next few years, I hope to be busier than ever, with making music, touring, running the label and much more. Yes, there will be collaborations (which haven’t happened yet), there will be lots of new music being released and definitely a few surprises to do with the Dualist Inquiry live show.

How do you think the electronic music scene in India is evolving?

I think it’s growing at an astounding, yet organic and sustainable pace. The ‘scene’ is made up of so many building blocks, such as venues, artists, festivals, music journalists and most importantly, fans and concert-goers. It’s been great to observe some crazy growth in every one of these areas.

What’s next for Dualist Inquiry? Is there an album in the offing?

There’s a lot of new music in the pipeline. Rather than focus on an album which takes up to a year to complete, I decided to go with smaller releases (such as Singles or EPs) this year to keep the flow of music constant, and without any long waits. I have a new music video that premieres next month, as well as a few remixes and definitely a couple of collaborations as well.

(A hardcore Liverpudlian and a Hiddlestoner, the author works for the New Indian Express as part of her day job and spends the rest of her time on Old Monk, music and movies (a lot of them rubbish; but currently also involving a generous dose of Mohanlal movies which she missed during her childhood on account of being a fraud malayali). This interview is an extended version of the one she did for the newspaper. You can find her on twitter as @therunawaypoet)

Early this year, Malayalam newspaper group Maathrubhumi kicked off their entertainment channel Kappa TV with a bunch of interesting programmes in its arsenal. While the channel itself has received good response, one of its most appreciated shows was Music Mojo, Kappa’s own version of the studio jam session a la Coke Studio and the like. The show featured a lot of interesting-yet-unheard bands in its first Season, but few have met with the kind of phenomenal success that Kochi-based Thaikkudam Bridge earned with their set of videos that went up on youtube last week. Having quite literally sprung up with the Music Mojo session, a lot of our readers were keen to know more about the band, and so we decided to get in touch with the band’s main man Govind Menon. And here is a primer on Thaikkudam Bridge!

Your fb page says just “Built for Music” about the band. Tell us more. The origins of the band and so on?

We have put more on the FB page.. U may have a look at it now! We are still working on the page. There will be a lot to look out for there in the coming days!
As for the origin…..here’s the story.
A few months back, me and my cousin brother Siddharth (a vocalist member of the band) were discussing about doing a cover. Just to satisfy our creative instincts….
We started working on the Rahman Medley. Soon Music Mojo caught our eyes and we sent them the cover as a demo. They liked it and thats how we got associated with the programme.
Since I have been in the film industry for over 4 years now, I roped in some of my most talented circle of friends…..Mithun Raju (the lead guitarist), Ashok Nelson ( rhythm guitars), Vipin Lal (Vocalist), Christin Jose (Vocalist), Ruthin Thej (Keyboards), Abin Thej (Drums), Piyush Kapoor (vocalist, guitars).
Siddharth roped in his truly remarkable musician friends in the form of Vian Fernandez (Bass guitarist, Vocals), Krishna Bongane (vocalist), Nila Madhav Mohapatra (vocalist).
Inspite of the varied backgrounds, we hit it off really well.
Everyone decided to gather together and soon jam sessions were on!

Why the name Thaikkudam Bridge?

And the place we met for the jam sessions and rehearsals was of course near Thaikkudam Bridge, thaikkudam being a place in Cochin. Its as simple as that. Nothing fancy about the origin of the name, huh. : )

By the look of it, we have been able to garner good reviews and so yes, we are really excited to take this forward…..

One of the most notable elements in your songs has been the vocalists. You have featured not less than 5 vocalists in your episode of Music Mojo. And from varied backgrounds too. Are all of them part of the band?

Thats right. 8 Vocalists, some of them are multi taskers too. One of a kind, huh? Its a matter of doing justice to whatever we put across in front of our audience. Each
and every vocalist as well as every member is a specialist in their own genre. They are all the members in the band.

A brief profile of the main artists if you will? Some of them seem to have rather interesting backgrounds.

Myself, well, I had my heart in this field from a very small age. I have been composing, programming and assisting music directors in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi for some time now. Its an exciting and huge platform for me to quench my creative thirst!Mithun Raju has been in the field for a long time now. He was the first guitarist of Motherjane. He is actively working with many music directors in the industry.Krishna Bongane and Nila Madhav Mohapatra are originally from Mumbai and are disciples of the same ustad, the prodigious Rashid Khan of the Rampur-Sahaswan lineage. They also have students.Siddharth Menon is a singer and has performed along with Vian Fernandez in the Sony TV reality show, X factor. They were the finalists in the show. He is studying in the A R Rahman’s music college – KM Music Conservatory in Chennai.Vian Fernandez is also basically a music composer, music teacher in a college in Mumbai and has performed shows worldwide.Vipin Lal is a music programmer and has worked for a lot of music directors of the industry.Christin Jose is a singer basically and has worked in albums, shows etc. He has lent his voice in my film for the promo song.Piyush Kapoor specialises in Rock and Western music. He was also a contestant in the X factor show and has since travelled a lot all over India performing for various concerts and bands.Ashok Nelson is a composer as well and is based in Kerala. He too has performed and travelled and has been associated with various bands and composers.Peethambaran is my father and is a singer. He has performed a lot during his younger days especially with Ouseppachan and Johnson master. He was the Voice of Thrissur , 3 to 4 times way back in the 70’s and so this is a comeback for him. He is the senior most member of the band.Ruthin Thej and Abin Thej are brothers and the sons of Thej Mervin (music director). Ruthin is into music programming while Abin Thej, I should say, is the youngest member of the band. He is currently pursuing his academics. But very much a tB band member.
We also have an efficient sound and tech team comprising of Amith Bal and Rajan K.S. who are freelance mixing and mastering engineers and has worked in various films across various languages. Hemanth is the tech support/Sound Tech Advisor. He works for AR Rahman as Music Tech and Gear Tech. He works for various other musicians in the industry too and is based in Chennai.

Most of your songs have been covers, but for two original songs. Interesting set of songs too that you chose for covering. A word on how you go about choosing the songs to cover?

While choosing the cover songs, we always had the audience in our mind… The goal was to make music for people. What they want to hear…. These songs are evergreen… each and every one of them….. Some of them forgotten, some of them never reached the people like they had to.
The two originals are Fish Rock and Shiva, as you know it. We had a gala time making them! B-)

You have been doing the arrangement for all the music so far I take it?

Yeah. That’s right. I arrange the tracks.

Covers or originals, which do you prefer?

Well, it has to be originals.

The soundtrack of the upcoming movie 24 Kaatham North is composed by a Govind Menon. Is that you too?

That’s right too. I am that Govind Menon! : ) I have done 4 songs for the film (one promo song included ) and the Background Score too. It will be an Onam release. Really excited about my first venture in films as a Music Director.

So what is the plan ahead for Thaikkudam Bridge? An album in the offing?
Well, There are a lot of shows pouring in from everywhere. So immediate future of the band is definitely live shows. We will definitely work on an album after the shows. (and a big one at that considering the number of vocalists!!!)

]]>https://www.musicaloud.com/2013/09/10/in-conversation-with-thaikkudam-bridge/feed/47204Coke Studio at MTV Season 3 Episode 2 (Ram Sampath) : Reviewhttps://www.musicaloud.com/2013/08/25/coke-studio-at-mtv-season-3-episode-2-ram-sampath-review/
https://www.musicaloud.com/2013/08/25/coke-studio-at-mtv-season-3-episode-2-ram-sampath-review/#commentsSun, 25 Aug 2013 20:26:15 +0000http://www.musicaloud.com/?p=7170The Pakistani edition of Coke Studio has had a theme around each of its episodes – something that MTV never borrowed to the Indian version. Ram Sampath’s episode stands out from the rest in that sense; the episode is themed on “Devi”, a celebration of the various forms of feminine power (he speaks of that in detail in this interview with us). Between this and the composer’s track record and the artist lineup, there has been enough to look forward to regarding Episode 2 of Coke Studio at MTV Season 3. My thoughts after seeing the episode, below.

Kattey – In his interview with us Ram Sampath had spoken about the joy of leading a kickass band on Coke Studio. And the kickass-ness of the band is in full display in this heady fusion piece – particularly Shirish Malhotra on viola, Jai Row Kavi on drums and Nirdosh Sobti on the lead guitar. But ruling all else with one stunner of a performance is Rajasthani singer Bhanvari Devi. And smartly interspersed with the earthy folk singing is Hard Kaur’s rap version of her life. The rap lyrics don’t always work, but the contrasting mix does work very well indeed!

Dum Dum Andar – This one (celebrating unconditional love, as per the makers) sees a neat incorporation of a mod qawwali piece into a gospel rendition. Ram chooses two accomplished singers in the genres – Sona Mohapatra and Samantha Edwards – both of whom do a fabulous job of delivering their parts. In the backdrop, Sanjoy Das’ guitar workstands out especially; and nice to see a lady tabla player (Swarupa Ananth in this case).

Sundari Komola – Ram Sampath revamps a song from his Colorblind days, Souls On Parade, fusing it with a Bengali “Chatka” to splendid effect! The sinister arrangement in the original is replaced with a folk-based one – the guitar + dotara (played by the awesome Tapas Roy)combo having you hooked from the word go. Being her home turf, Aditi Singh Sharma sings the original rock song segments with practiced ease, while Usri Bannerjee (singer of Manmauji in Gangs of Wasseypur, wife of singer Bonnie Chakraborty) does a super rendition of the Bengali part.

Payyada – THE song of the episode! Ram’s adaptation of the famous kshetrayya padam set to nadanamakriya raga is basically a cover of what he did in his debut movie Let’s Talk. Like in the movie, Ram keeps the arrangement at a blissfully minimal level, some basic chords being played on the strings (lute and guitar in this case, the former played by Shirish) and the occasional keys for most part. Which leaves the centre stage for Aruna Sairam, and what a recital she gives! At a recent concert in Bangalore, the singer had in fact sung another padam and said that this was a genre close to her heart. You can feel every bit of that passion in the rendition, and combined with the ethereal flamenco-flavored arrangement, this one is a sureshot goosebump-inducer.

Piya Se Naina – After the relatively quiet Payyada, this one is pretty much the other extreme with an array of instruments making up the orchestration. But what is similar with the previous one is the fact that this one too is owned by the singer, Sona Mohapatra – the lady is impeccable with her delivery of the classical-based composition (multiple ragas, desh being a noticeable one) on Khusrao’s lines, well supported by the chorus. Tapas Roy’s mandolin rendition deserves a special mention too – loved that solo in the second interlude; only wish it were longer.

Aigiri Nandini – As a fusion piece, this one follows a structure similar to Dum Dum, in that Sona Mohapatra’s delivery of Bulleh Shah’s now popular Thaiyya Thaiyya is packaged within Aruna Sairam’s Mahishaasura Marddini Stotram. Just that here the packaging isn’t as seamless. The song gets a super start with the stotram part, building up to a high, and then things get a bit complicated. After a contrived-sounding guitar lead comes Sona’s part, which is good if heard as an individual piece, but at odds with the initial half. My favorite part of the song is that short bit towards the end where Aruna Sairam’s base rendition resonating over Sona and the chorus going Thaiyya Thaiyya.

So barring that one song, Ram Sampath delivers a winner as the teasers promised – this season of Coke Studio at MTVis already looking very very good!

Top Recos: Payyada, Sundari Komola, Piya Se Naina

]]>https://www.musicaloud.com/2013/08/25/coke-studio-at-mtv-season-3-episode-2-ram-sampath-review/feed/47170In Conversation With Ram Sampathhttps://www.musicaloud.com/2013/08/22/in-conversation-with-ram-sampath/
https://www.musicaloud.com/2013/08/22/in-conversation-with-ram-sampath/#commentsThu, 22 Aug 2013 15:14:46 +0000http://www.musicaloud.com/?p=7159If you grew up in the 90s, there is little chance that you would not know the song that was arguably a turning point of singer Shaan’s career –Tanha Dil. But do you also know that the song was composed by Ram Sampath? Not many do, I am sure. Such was the fate of the composer, to remain behind the scenes for almost 15 years of his career despite producing some super music off and on (Khakee, . Thanks to Rajesh Roshan in 2008, the man had his biggest moment of fame until that point when the former plagiarised his Sony Ericsson jingle for the Krazzy 4 title song featuring Hritik Roshan. It took Aamir Khan though to turn things around for good when he roped in Ram for Delhi Belly. A bunch of successful soundtracks and jingles after that, the man makes his debut on MTV’s Indian adaptation of Coke Studio this Saturday (the first song featuring Bhanvari Devi and Hard Kaur was released by MTV a couple of hours back). We decided to hear from Ram about his music. And here we share it with you all.

(A big thank you to Sona Mohapatra; if not for her help we would never have got this interview done!)

Let’s start with the big one, Coke Studio. You debut on the show this season, next week to be precise. A word on what to expect and how you went about picking the songs and artists, given that they seem to be spread across geography and genres?

India is vast and diverse and I wanted to capture some of that breadth on my episode. I also wanted to enjoy myself leading a kick-ass band. For me, Coke Studio @ Mtv is as much about the band as it is about the singers and my band was an absolute delight to work with. My episode is captured completely live & I truly hope the audience appreciates that.

The concept made it easier for me to choose my vocalists. I chose to work with some of my favourite female vocalists from different genres of music across India. From Carnatic legend Aruna Sairam and Rajasthani folk legend Bhanwari Devi to Desi Hip hop pioneer Hard Kaur. From gospel, jazz and soul singer Samantha Edwards to new age Bengali folk singer Usri Banerjee & the passionate modern rock vocals of Aditi Singh Sharma to my muse Sona; the choices were easy but there are many more vocalists I still hope to work with..

You seem to have a theme around your episode and all lead performers seem to be ladies?

My main motivation to do CS@MTV this year was because I found the right concept to work with. The concept of my episode is Devi and I wanted to celebrate and represent the various forms of feminine energy. India is probably the only culture in the world that still worships the Feminine Divine, yet we are struggling to deal with our misogyny and narrow-mindedness. It was a good opportunity for me express my feelings as an Indian artist.

You have two songs with the great Aruna Sairam on Coke Studio. A bit about that may be? How you came to choose her, the experience of working with her, et al?

Aruna Sairam is a true master of her craft & a dream to work with. It would take a whole season of CS@MTV to showcase her repertoire! She carries centuries of music in her, yet she has an amazingly modern perspective on art. I hope to work with her again in the near future.

You did the score for Celluloid Man. A documentary on India’s foremost film archivist, covering almost all of Indian Cinema. How challenging was setting the music?

Celluloid Man is a very, very long interview in itself – suffice to say that it was a therapeutic experience as it reconnected me to the pure, artistic side of cinema and the myriad emotions it invokes within you.

Talking of older compositions, is there a plan to resurrect Colorblind, given that the indie scene is in general on a path of resurgence of late, both in terms of new bands and the exposure level?

No. I have a lot of material written for a second and third Colourblind album but it doesn’t excite me at the moment. My output of music in the last 3 years has been quite prolific, so I might think about an Indie project when I get some breathing space.

It was in 1996 that you composed Tanha Dil. Even today many of its fans do not know that it was you. Situation seems to be a bit different now though. Has the scene in general changed a lot for the non-frontline musicians?

I don’t think so! It’s still the singer of the song who gets all the attention & not much has changed. I personally, have always preferred being the play-maker to the striker, so I tend not to seek out the spotlight. I think it was Aamir’s amazing promotion of the music of Delhi Belly that got me back in the mainstream game.

You do a lot of ads as well. How different is working on jingles versus Independent albums versus movies? Which do you prefer most?

Every medium is enjoyable in it’s own way & teaches you something different. I see myself as composer who works in different media. I would love to score a video game someday; something like Assassin’s Creed would be fun..

You founded Om Grown Music Studio with Sona some time back, and although you have worked with a lot of freelance musicians, it all seems to have been for your own projects – be it ads, Satyameva Jayate.. Is there a plan to move out beyond that, into promoting music purely by other artists?

I have always tried to work with new talent as much as possible for e.g. the guitar player (Nirdosh Sobti) and bass player (Keshav Iyengar) on my Coke Studio episode are musicians I discovered when I was a judge on Rock On with MTV. Besides, I think there are record companies and websites out there that promote music much better than I can, so I’ll stick to making music & Omgrown Music remains a platform for my musical ambitions for now..

You seem to be one of the very few musicians who has stayed clear of the social media bandwagon. Given how a lot of artists find the social channel helpful in promoting their work, any particular reason why you have let that skip?

I find social media unsettling and since I interact with an insane number of people on a daily basis at work, I prefer the quiet when I’m alone.

What are the projects that are keeping you busy at this moment, other than Coke Studio? Anything you are at liberty to speak of?

Movies, albums, plans.. all happening at the same time.. I’m happiest biting off more than I can chew!